


Love Me in Your Dreams

by suhoneymod



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-09
Updated: 2016-05-09
Packaged: 2018-06-07 09:15:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6798025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suhoneymod/pseuds/suhoneymod
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jongin comes home late one night and finds his BFF’s older brother Joonmyun passed out drunk outside his door. He’s not a savage, so he brings him inside. The only problem is Jongin’s had a crush on Joonmyun for ages but has never told him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love Me in Your Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Though I diverged from the original plot quite a bit, this is inspired by the beautiful BL manga 愛だの恋だの (“Ai dano koi dano”) which made this fic a little angsty in the beginning, sorry >.
> 
> (Prompt #52)
> 
> written by [eoryndal](http://eoryndal.livejournal.com/)

Jongin draws a sharp breath when he sees Joonmyun and his boyfriend making out on the dance floor. He knows he needs to get out of here.

“Jongdae hyung, can we leave?” he asks his friend who's dancing nearby. Jongdae is a party animal, but more importantly he's a good friend and understands immediately when he follows Jongin's gaze. In no time, Jongin is tugged through the crowd, out into the refreshing night air and down several blocks to Jongdae's parents' house that has a soft couch, silly cartoons on TV, and enough comfort food for Jongin to stuff his face with when he doesn't want to talk.

There really isn't much to say about Jongin's crush. It's one-sided which hurts sometimes. Jongdae, honestly, is a little more reliable when it comes to secret-keeping than Sehun, that's why he knows and Sehun doesn't, even though Sehun holds the unchallenged best-friend-for-life title. But Sehun is also Joonmyun's younger brother so there's no way Jongin can tell him about his crush. Ever.

“You wanna stay over?” Jongdae asks.

“Uhm, no, I think I'm gonna go home now. But thanks for the offer and thanks for the, uh...” Jongin gestures to the empty chips bag on the coffee table. “I really needed that. Sorry for ruining your party night.”

“Nah, not at all.” Jongdae stands up to bring Jongin to the door. “You sure you're okay?”

“Yeah, much better,” Jongin says as he slips his shoes on.

“You should tell him sometime, don't you think?”

Jongin shakes his head hastily and is out the door. His own place isn't too far, just a bit closer to campus where most buildings have small, cheap student apartments in them rather than spacious family homes. Jongdae lucked out, but Jongin and most of his other friends live in the cheaper area.

The light bulb in his hallway is weak, so he only notices the bundle in front of his apartment door when he all but stumbles over it.

The bundle groans and waves a hand as if chasing off a fly.

A little creeped out, Jongin steps away and shines his phone screen like a flashlight at the person sitting on the floor, hoping it's not some dangerous weirdo.

His heart jumps and he almost drops his phone when he recognizes Joonmyun. He looks pale in the artificial light and his thick coat swallows him up. Jongin crouches down and calls his name but gets no reaction. From closer up, he can smell the alcohol on Joonmyun. He must have gotten pretty hammered at the party. Now he's curled up in front of Jongin's door, drunk and apparently fast asleep. Trying to wake him up proves pointless, his head just lolls and he whimpers. Jongin had himself too much to drink to drive him home but he really can't leave him there. So he takes him inside – not an easy feat considering he's hardly conscious enough to move his feet – and puts his dead weight on the sofa. Then he goes to get ready for bed because he's really tired, but he checks up on Joonmyun one last time before bed.

Hand on the light switch, Jongin sighs deeply as his eyes roam over Joonmyun's passed-out, miserable-looking form. Just as he's about to click the light off, he notices tear tracks on Joonmyun's face. Has he been crying in his sleep?

“Hyung, look what you did... How can I leave you alone now?” Jongin approaches the couch and carries Joonmyun over to his bed. He peels jacket, shoes and socks off him and tucks him in before getting under the blanket himself. Joonmyun has ended up in a curled-up position on his side and his sleeping face is turned to Jongin. Even in such a messed-up state, he's still heartbreakingly beautiful.

Jongin mutters. “This isn't how I wanted to get you in my bed. Already taken by someone else and crying over god knows what.” He strokes his fingers through Joonmyun's matted hair, untangling it carefully. He lies down as well and watches the painful expression ease from Joonmyun's face slowly as he pets him. “Why didn't you go to your boyfriend, stupid hyung?”

~

Joonmyun wakes up to a pounding headache and – warmth? Someone with dark brown hair is lying with his back to him. Joonmyun freaks out inwardly because he's not sure who that person is. Not his boyfriend, that's for sure. Well, ex-boyfriend now. At the thought he can feel his heart breaking again, ruining what little healing the night's sleep gave him. He tries to cry silently so as not to wake the other person but he's always been a small disaster when he cries. He just can't help outright bawling.

The other wakes up and frowns at him but Joonmyun recognizes him and that's a relief. It's not some weird stranger, it's his little brother's best friend who's an okay guy, as far as he knows. He took Joonmyun in for the night, at least.

“I got dumped,” Joonmyun cries out and barrels into Jongin's chest. That's probably straining the bounds of the kindness that was extended to him but Joonmyun just really needs some comfort right now. His hangover headache is still splitting his head but for the first time the tears don't feel painful but freeing, so he lets them flow until a sort of calm settles over him. Jongin even holds him after some initial surprise, rubs soothing circles on Joonmyun's back, but pushes him off when his crying calms down.

“...You're a messy crier.” He frowns down at his shirt that's soaked with Joonmyun's snot and tears. Pulls it over his head and dumps it in the laundry hamper. His voice sounds like he wants to get out of this situation as soon as possible, but his eyes hold a great gentleness in their depths. “Hyung, you can't go to school like this. Breakfast is in the cabinet, I only have cereals but help yourself. I have to go now or I'll miss my class.”

He grabs a set of fresh clothes and his backpack, and is just about to close the bedroom door behind him when Joonmyun leaps out of the bed and grabs onto him to hold him back. “Wait, what-?”

“Go back to bed, hyung. Get some more rest.”

Joonmyun can't even protest because the sudden movement made him feel like puking, and verticality isn't his friend right now. The room's spinning around him, he staggers back to bed and crawls under the covers thankfully. Not soon after, he hears the front door click into its lock. Everything is quiet and dark, the blinds still keeping the weak morning light out, the bed is warm and soft, and it _is_ truly what Joonmyun needs right now.

He's a good student so missing one day of classes is no problem. His friends will probably ask where he is but he hopes Jongin doesn't tell them too much. He falls asleep again and later when he wakes up with a growling stomach, he finds the cereals in the kitchen and also a glass of water and a foil pack of Aspirin on the counter, with a little note that reads. 'Eat first, taking painkillers on an empty stomach isn't good.'

~

When Jongin comes home, Joonmyun is gone. Jongin half expected him to, so he goes on with everything as usual. Just sometimes, he allows his mind to wander back to the strange night in which fate dropped Joonmyun into his life and plucked him right out again.

The next day at school, Jongin eats his lunch at an empty table by the farthest window just how he likes it, a little way away from the noise of hundreds of students eating and talking over each other. Sometimes some of his friends join him, Kyungsoo who also prefers a little quiet sometimes, Sehun when he has something exciting to tell, even Yixing when he has to cram for a test. So he's not surprised when another tray is put on his table with a clatter and the chair next to his scrapes over the floor as it's pulled back.

“Can I sit here?”

The voice is surprising, though. It's Joonmyun's and it makes Jongin's heart leap into his throat and pump blood into his face. To cover up his totally uncool reaction, he just shrugs nonchalantly and points out. “You're already sitting.”

And then he adds, too curious not to. “But why aren't you sitting with the other guys? No seat left?”

He slurps up some noodles and notices there's only a takeaway cup of coffee on Joonmyun's tray.

“No no, I just- it's quieter here. And I haven't told the other guys yet, so I feel more relaxed around you.”

They run in loosely the same friend circles but Jongin thought Joonmyun was closer to Yixing and the others his age. He musters Joonmyun with a cocked eyebrow but only gives a non-committal hum as an answer. Joonmyun's face still looks quite pale, he thinks. “How are you feeling, by the way?”

“I'm good, I'm good.” Joonmyun laughs awkwardly.

Jongin scoffs a little harder than he intended. “You're not eating. And your smile looks forced.”

Joonmyun's sigh sounds like it's been weighing on his chest for a while and he pushes his tray away to fold his body up and rest his head on the table. “How could you tell? We don't even know each other that well,” he mumbles.

Jongin just keeps eating his food, looking out of the window, but he's eating with one hand so he can rest the other on Joonmyun's head and ruffle through his strands lightly.

Joonmyun hums after a while, voice sounding more relaxed now. “Do you do that subconsciously?”

“Huh?” Jongin asks, and as he turns to face Joonmyun, his hand automatically pulls away from Joonmyun's head.

Joonmyun points at his awkwardly hovering hand. “That. Comforting people.” He regards Jongin for a while, then says. “You've got that unapproachable front and say things bluntly, but your heart's really warm.”

It's an open statement, almost a question, leaving Jongin the leeway to accept or deny if he wants. But Jongin just stays quiet, not knowing what to say to that. He doesn't like seeing people get hurt, but he's also not good at expressing affection. It's certainly the first time someone implied he was good at comforting. He finishes the broth of his noodle soup, then the standard green tea that comes with each cafeteria meal. “I guess...” he ventures in the end.

But it's not like Joonmyun is still waiting for an answer. “Let's go drinking tonight!” He grins, sitting up straight.

Jongin is taken aback by the sudden change in his attitude, though not unhappy that Joonmyun's trying to stop moping. More drinking, though...? “Only if you pay.”

~

He'd have said no if he knew that he'd be dragging a drunken, crying Joonmyun home again. Well, no. He'd still have said yes. Because he can't leave Joonmyun alone when he's like that. At least he hasn't passed out this time, he's conscious and just coordinated enough to take off his own shoes and change into some sleepwear Jongin lends him.

He almost chokes while brushing his teeth, though, gagging and heaving around the new brush Jongin gave him, but he swallows it down like a trooper. Shaking slightly, he clings to the sink and looks up at Jongin. “Wow, I'm such a mess.” He huffs out a laugh, but there are tears glimmering traitorously in the corners of his eyes.

Jongin takes the toothbrush out of Joonmyun's fist. “It's good enough, hyung. Go to bed.”

After Jongin finishes up in the bathroom, he finds Joonmyun on the bed with his face pressed into the pillow. Honestly a little worried that Joonmyun will throw up into his pillow, he asks. “Still feeling sick?”

“No, just...” Joonmyun hugs the pillow but turns his head a little so his voice doesn't come out muffled. “Don't wanna ever get up again. Your bed's so soft.”

“Ah,” Jongin hums. “My parents gave me money to buy a new mattress as an enrolment present. Got a good deal and could afford a new pillow and blanket, too.”

He gets on the bed but sits against the headboard, switching the night lamp on his bedside table on. “You can sleep, hyung. I'll read a little if you don't mind the light. I'm not feeling very tired.”

Joonmyun murmurs an okay and Jongin picks up his book, the sheets rustling as Joonmyun moves around to find a comfortable position.

“Is it okay to be taking up so much of your time?” Joonmyun asks suddenly. “Don't you have a girlfriend or something?”

Jongin freezes, then forces himself to sound indifferent as he says. “I don't really care about that sort of thing.” He can feel the grip on his book hardening, fingers locked stiffly, but it's not like he can just say he's been crushing on Joonmyun for ages.

You can't just say 'oh, I don't have a girlfriend because I've only ever had eyes for you since that time I went ice-skating with your little brother when we were thirteen and I fell so often I hurt all over and was too scared to stand up again and you, the cool, two-years-older brother, took me by the hand and didn't let go until I knew how to skate, not letting me fall again one single time.' You don't say that to someone who's just been dumped by his boyfriend and is desperately trying to stitch his broken heart back together.

“Then I'm glad,” Joonmyun says quietly.

All the lines in his face look soft and his eyes are half closed, but the dark circles on his pale skin and the redness in his eyes give his softness such a melancholic tinge. Glad looks different. Jongin frowns at him, putting his book down. “Glad? About what?”

Joonmyun's lips pull up a tiny bit, a ghost of his old quirkiness. “That I can-” He leans up on one arm and lifts the other to brush his knuckles softly over Jongin's cheekbone. “-have you all to myself.”

“You can't!” Jongin bristles and Joonmyun chuckles a little, plopping back down into the pillow. He closes his eyes, smiling, as though he's not listening when Jongin barrels on. “I don't belong to anyone but myself! Especially not to stupid hyungs who get drunk and cry over undeserving asshole heart-breakers who think they can find someone better than you out there. A- And you have to share me with my friends, too!”

Joonmyun is fast asleep at the end of Jongin's outburst, or pretending to be. His face looks peaceful, an echo of a smile still on his lips, hand curled loosely by his face. Fingers still in the same position they were when they brushed over Jongin's skin. Jongin pulls his knees to his chest and buries his face between them. His heart, too big, is pounding loudly in the silence.

~

When they have breakfast together the next morning, for once Jongin looks worse than Joonmyun. Joonmyun wonders if Jongin didn't sleep well. He seems like the type who likes his own space. Joonmyun's probably overstayed his welcome, gotten all spoiled by Jongin's kindness, taking up too much space in his life that wasn't meant for Joonmyun.

He packs all his things, not just what he needs for school but everything until only his toothbrush is left. He hesitates. He has his own at home, he doesn't need to take this one with him, and he'd like to leave a little trace of himself in Jongin's life... but it's probably better, healthier for himself if he makes a clean cut.

“Hyung, what- why are you taking all that stuff? You don't need it at school.” Jongin trails Joonmyun all the way to the apartment door.

“I'm taking it back to my place. Thanks for letting me stay over,” Joonmyun says as he slips his shoes on. “I won't bother you anymore.”

He's out the door before Jongin can react.

He's almost at the metro station when he hears footsteps hitting the asphalt behind him, and he turns around. Jongin stops running and leans on his knees, panting. “Hyung. Wait.” One strap of his backpack is sliding down his shoulder. “We have the same way to school...” He's wearing the same shirt as yesterday, must've thrown it on in a haste to chase after Joonmyun. It's wrinkled and his hair's in tangles.

Joonmyun thinks Jongin's going to say something else but he doesn't, looking straight ahead with heavy eyelids and his mouth closed tight in an almost-pout. Joonmyun would give a fortune to know the thoughts in that head.

He tries to take Jongin's hand once but the moment their skin brushes, Jongin jerks away and buries his hands deep in his pockets.

They're silent the whole way and it only makes Joonmyun more aware of their bodies pressed together in the crammed morning commute, shoulders, arms, hips, all the way down to their legs, everything feels hot where they're touching. He thanks every deity he knows that it's only one stop.

When Joonmyun reaches his lecture room, he finds Minseok sitting in his usual spot and takes the place next to him.

“Hey, 'sup?” Minseok asks casually. Joonmyun takes a breath. He still hasn't told most of his friends about the break-up, so how could he even begin to explain his tangled mess of feelings for Jongin?

“Ah, nothing much,” he says and puts on his best smile.

Later that day, during lunch break as Joonmyun is on his way to find a seat, he spots Jongin at his usual table. Jongin looks up and sees him, too. It makes Joonmyun feel guilty when he breaks eye-contact and turns to sit with his friends instead.

It's in that moment, as he turns around in the aisle between two tables, that be bumps into the person who was standing behind him and feels like the floor is pulled out from under his feet. It's his ex – who is with a new boyfriend.

Everyone's staring at the three of them.

Joonmyun feels himself starting to slip into panic mode, a wobbling spreading all over him from somewhere in the middle of his chest, but just then, arms wrap around his waist and a soft body is pressed into his side. Joonmyun gapes for air but can't breathe, like a fish on dry land.

“Hyung, come sit with me.”

Joonmyun is too stunned to react. “I, wh-”

He's cut off by Jongin's lips connecting with his own for a small second.

“Please? I reserved you a spot!”

Completely dazed, Joonmyun is pulled behind Jongin to the empty table by the farthest window, feeling the stares in their backs. Jongin sits close to Joonmyun but otherwise drops the act, silently eating his food. He doesn't say anything when he leaves, either, but he puts an arm around Joonmyun's shoulder and kisses his temple. For show.

Joonmyun's left behind with a churning feeling in his stomach, like somehow he's the bad guy. Guilt sits next to him in the shape of a sports bag containing all the necessities he'd hastily packed at Jongin's this morning.

~

Gossip-worthy news spread like wildfire in their group of friends – mostly thanks to Baekhyun – and Jongin goes into hiding at Jongdae's place, stuffing his phone deep into his bag where he can't hear the continuous pings of messages.

In exchange for the cover he offers Jongin, Jongdae demands to hear everything first-hand. Jongin only has him to talk about things regarding Joonmyun so he would have told him sooner or later anyway.

“So I think I became his fake boyfriend,” Jongin ruefully concludes his account of today's events and hands Jongdae the last vase to be stored safely away in a lockable closet. Jongdae's parents let him throw as many parties as he wants on the condition that none of their precious china gets harmed and the house is cleaned up by the time they return.

“Okay, let's restock the fridge next,” Jongdae says. “But why would you do something so stupid? Like, what made you decide to save him all of a sudden?”

Jongin feels blood shoot into his cheeks and sticks his head in the fridge, counting beers. “13, 14, 15... I thought I could make him hurt less. We have 19 of the big plastic bottles and a handful of cans.”

“By hurting yourself?” Jongdae tuts at him when he emerges from the fridge. “You're in deep, deep shit, man.”

Jongin scowls. “Not if he starts liking me, too.” He's nothing if not stubborn.

“Yeah, and how likely is that when he's still hung up over his ex and just moved out of your place this morning.”

Jongin can feel his forehead pull into a frown, but a different ping from his phone saves him from having to answer. It's the message tone he's set exclusively for Sehun who he _always_ answers. He digs his phone out to read the message and says, prompted by Jongdae's curious look. “Sehun's complaining that his own brother isn't telling him anything and that I as his best friend should.”

“Well, aren't you gonna reply?”

Jongin gnaws on his lip, then places his phone display down on the counter-top, shaking his head. “I love him, but he just wants to gossip.”

“Okay, but what're you planning to do if his ex shows up tonight?” Jongdae asks while he juts things down on a shopping list. “Just so we're clear, I'm not gonna invite him, but he'll probably show up at some point.”

Jongin doesn't have an answer.

He's not even sure if Joonmyun is angry at him. He had just sat next to Jongin sort of thunderstruck, not saying whether he was glad or angry that Jongin had made them look like a couple. Maybe, Jongin agonizes, he just made them look stupid.

Jongin knows he's not good at acting affectionate, his kisses too rushed, his eyes giving off an intense glare rather than a lovey-dovey gaze. Hadn't he just grabbed Joonmyun and pulled him along, not even letting him put in a word for himself? It's really no wonder that among all the messages Jongin received none are from Joonmyun.

So Jongin doesn't plan to do anything except have a good time. Jongdae's friend Chanyeol always brings great party mixes to dance to and with the furniture pushed aside, Jongdae's living room is big enough for a decent makeshift dancefloor. He's not going to stick his nose in Joonmyun's business when he obviously doesn't want him to.

So he hangs out close to the dancefloor, chats with his friends when he runs into them, always ready to declare 'this is my favourite song!' and jump into the throng of dancing party goers when uncomfortable questions are being asked. It's a fail-proof escape plan. He just has to keep a safe distance from that part of the floor where Joonmyun is dancing goofily. It's okay that his eyes always gravitate towards him, as long as his feet don't.

Jongdae's prediction comes true at some point past midnight, the ex showing up and pushing onto the dancefloor when a love song comes on to slow-dance with his new boyfriend in a way he really has no business to when he just broke someone's heart. Jongin's gaze finds Joonmyun, and he hates the way Joonmyun's smile slips off his face, replaced by a paper-thin mask of disinterest that really doesn't do much to hide the hurt underneath. Joonmyun has stopped dancing, he's standing stock-still and staring at his ex. Jongin hates it, helplessly.

Before he's even thought of anything he could possibly do, the buoying crowd has swept him right into Joonmyun's line of vision. Joonmyun's fixed gaze breaks, he lifts his eyes to Jongin's, and Jongin can tell the exact moment he recognizes him. Joonmyun's face lights up and without hesitation, his arms come around Jongin's neck, pulling him in, and then they're twirling, twirling and kissing.

Someone tall and broad shoulders past Jongin hard, making him stumble on purpose. It's the ex. Jongin's about to open his mouth and say something nasty when the guy spit out one word to Joonmyun. “Bitch.” And leaves.

Jongin wants to go after him, ready to throw fists in defence of Joonmyun's honour. But Joonmyun is squeezing his hand in an iron grip and doesn't budge. There's a sort of grim smile on his face, dangerous sparks in his eyes.

“What an asshole,” Joonmyun says, heart-felt. “Glad he revealed his true face. There goes my last bit of affection for him.”

Jongin is tugged to a sofa in a corner, pushed into the soft cushions, and then Joonmyun is straddling him, holding his face and kissing him fiercely. It's making Jongin light-headed, like he's floating, like Joonmyun had sprouted powerful seraph wings and tugged him up into the night sky where everything is dark and sharp and the air is thinning. Jongin has to pull away, panting. “Stop. Not... Not so much tongue.”

~

They go to Joonmyun's place. Jongin still isn't sure if he's just a rebound, a method to get over the past relationship, but he wants this even so. He knows where this is leading, had understood what Joonmyun said when he said 'no one's home right now.'

Joonmyun still lives with his family, and Jongin knows the house almost as well as his own. He's been over to visit Sehun countless times since he could walk. But Joonmyun's room is new, uncharted waters, the realm of the older brother that the younger boys weren't allowed to trespass. Now, Joonmyun invites Jongin in.

The room is small and cramped, incredibly messy, and nerdy, too. There are Star Wars posters, Gundam figurines, little Lego pieces on the floor. But when Joonmyun lights a scented candle and the warm smell permeates the room, all the shapes start melting together into a soft, wavering whole.

Jongin sits on the bed like Joonmyun motions for him to do as he draws the curtains. There's heat rising to Jongin's cheeks, and a jolt runs through him when Joonmyun touches his knee. Joonmyun leans in to kiss him, and again it feels like his tongue is filling Jongin's whole mouth. He doesn't know what to do, how to breathe, but he's hard.

He manages to communicate that he's inexperienced but he really wants this. And Joonmyun guides him through it with his hot, wet mouth and skilled fingers.

Afterwards, when they lie naked and sated, and wait for sleep to come, Jongin mumbles. “I like you.” It just slips out.

“Hm? What'd you say?” Joonmyun murmurs drowsily.

“Nothing!” Jongin exclaims, mortified, and covers his face.

“No. Wait. I heard you. Sorry,” Joonmyun amends. “...I just wanted to hear it again.”

“I'm not good at this stuff. Kissing, hand-holding, saying words like...” Jongin trails off, can't bring himself to say it again while he's still so embarrassed. He can't even look at Joonmyun. Draws his hand away when Joonmyun touches it, because Joonmyun's touch always leaves spots on his skin that burn for hours.

Joonmyun presses against him, says softly. “You let me cry on you, petted my hair. You were there for me when I needed you. Those matter more to me. Besides,” he adds cheekily, “the rest will come on its own. You'll see, in no time you'll be draping yourself all over me.”

“Will not!”

“This body-” Joonmyun starts and draws his hand over the slope of Jongin's shoulder, over his slightly toned pecs and his soft stomach. “-perfect for cuddling. Don't try to deny your true calling.” He's laughing.

Jongin squeezes his eyes shut, not saying anything. Joonmyun is so close, pressed all against his back, and his arm around Jongin, surely he must feel how stupidly fast Jongin's heart is beating. His hand is resting on Jongin's lower stomach, igniting a stirring between his legs. The fingertips stroking lightly over the fine trail of hairs is maddening.

“I like you, too, in case that wasn't clear.” Joonmyun kissing the top bump of his spine, and then, while he's at it, all the way down Jongin's back, his lips soft, soft, soft. Jongin whimpers. He wants more, wants to feel Joonmyun in him again, over and over, to make up for all the lost time.

~

They're having breakfast together at the kitchen table in comfortable silence, eating left-overs from dinner that Joonmyun had warmed up. Joonmyun has his ankles hooked around Jongin's, and Jongin is smiling down into his bowl.

He can't stop thinking about the moles he'd discovered on Joonmyun's skin in the fresh, bright morning light. The one just above Joonmyun's upper lip that makes him complain 'no teasing, kiss me properly!' when Jongin keeps nibbling at it. The one just under Joonmyun's earlobe that makes Joonmyun draw a sharp breath and forget to breathe out for as long as Jongin flicks his tongue over it. And more, here and there, all over Joonmyun's body like cities on a map. Jongin plans to visit them all one day.

“Mornin', Jongin.” Sehun comes into the kitchen, greeting Jongin like it's the most normal thing to find him there. It is. But usually after a sleepover in Sehun's room which Sehun registers belatedly. He does a double take, eyes comically wide. “Jongin?!”

“Morning,” Jongin mumbles and yanks his ankles free to stick his feet under his own chair. He gulps down a whole glass of milk but it does little to hide his red face. He wishes he'd at least worn more than just his boxers. Suddenly he thinks the smell of sex is still on his skin, but maybe he's just paranoid. Joonmyun keeps smiling sweetly at Jongin, unperturbed, pointedly ignoring his little brother.

“Don't you wanna know where I spent my night?” Sehun asks, trying to get their attention. He's leaning his hip confidently against the fridge as he heaps food on a plate, probably has a great story to tell. He's practically gloating.

“No, thank you,” Joonmyun says, not even taking his gaze off Jongin, “and you can take your food to your room. I want to eat Jongin alone. I mean, eat _with_.”

Jongin wants to sink into the floorboards. He's not going to make it. Worst idea ever to get together with his best friend's older brother – now he's stuck between their banter. What's more, he has to deal with the mental images that Joonmyun's words have conjured up of him sliding under the kitchen table and between Jongin's legs. He prays no one here can read minds.

Sehun, meanwhile, pretends to be totally scandalized. “I don't know what's grosser, my best friend fucking my brother or _my brother_ f- ugh, no, I don't even wanna finish that thought. I'm telling mum you're scarring your sweet baby brother! I'm gonna eat far away from you before you corrupt my innocent brain.”

To the sound of Joonmyun's cackles, Sehun exits the kitchen. But before he's out of sight, he turns around once again, calling. “Hey, Jongin?”

Jongin looks up.

“I'm happy for you,” Sehun says sincerely, and that's why despite all his silly theatrics, he's Jongin's best friend forever. A second later, though, he's teasing again as he dances out of the kitchen, shouting. “About time you got together. You've been pining after hyung for such a long time.”

Jongin gasps. Sehun doesn't even know that, he just made a stupidly accurate guess. “Have not!” He shouts after Sehun.

“Have you?” Joonmyun asks promptly when he's gone.

“...Maybe. A little. I'm not telling!”

Jongin keeps his gaze trained on his plate until it's empty.

Joonmyun's probing toes try to coax his feet out from under his chair. His ankles are thin and bony but Jongin likes them.

These things don't come easy to him, but he relents and tangles their legs together.

**Author's Note:**

> on LJ [here](http://suhoneyfest.livejournal.com/4503.html)!


End file.
